Westlake plans Aldersgate
event for 6 p.m. May 24

Westlake UMC, Austin, is to celebrate John Wesley’s Aldersgate experience May 24.
We will be celebrating Aldersgate at Westlake with the Coker UMC Chancel Choir from San Antonio. We will sing a few of the 9,000 songs that John’s brother, Charles, wrote. Dinner begins at 6 p.m. and the Hymn Festival at 7 p.m.
The Methodist movement was founded by John Wesley, an Anglican minister. Following a difficult and discouraging mission trip to America, he questioned his faith.
In 1738, at age 34, John Wesley attended an evening worship service in London. The experience moved him deeply. In his journal, Wesley described his “Aldersgate experience”:
In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. 
About a quarter before nine, while the leader was describing the change that God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death. (From The Journal of John Wesley, May 24, 1738.)
Come celebrate our heritage in prayer and song. Call the church office at (512) 327-1335 to make a dinner reservation.